


The Little Fire Within

by lunaseemoony



Category: Blackpool, Doctor Who (2005), Teninch - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Injury, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7760338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaseemoony/pseuds/lunaseemoony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rose barely survives a work-related accident, Peter Carlisle's heart is ready to burst. He can no longer keep his true feelings for her a secret for the sake of their partnership and friendship. He's willing to risk it all so she knows she's not alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Little Fire Within

**Author's Note:**

> I'm posting fics from tumblr to complete collections

He was determined to be there when she woke. The nurses couldn’t move him, no matter how much they prodded. Not even her firebrand of a mother could convince him to leave her side. At least with her parents there he could grab a quick bite and use the loo. But aside from that he stayed. 

Once they’d agreed to get along, Mrs. Tyler looked at him with so much pity in her eyes. On any other day it would’ve torn him down. He’d already shed his tears for Rose over the night while she was in surgery. Jackie’s candor was a welcome comfort in a ward full of doctors and nurse tiptoeing around him as though he was a child not ready to hear the truth. He had one thing in common with Mr. and Mrs. Tyler, and that was unending faith in Rose’s ability to pull through. He adored the little fire burning inside Rose that the three of them knew would never go out, could never be extinguished. Nevertheless, the hours were long. They needed something to preoccupy them while they waited for Rose to awake. So she told him about why Rose looked at him with heartache in her eyes so much. 

Peter Carlisle could’ve cursed his piss poor luck with women once again. He should’ve. Any other man in his right mind would’ve. Just when he thought his luck couldn’t get any worse he learned that he was a veritable doppelganger to the man that Rose desperately loved and lost. Two years they’d been working together. She was relentless and reckless in her pursuit of justice. He’d attributed it to her own brand of gumption. Rose Tyler never gave up on anything. 

This man that Rose loved had such a hold on her heart that without him she’d turned an endless pursuit of all the world’s crime. She seemed to run without taking a breath, as though she could fill her void with righteousness. Going out alone against his advice and getting herself hurt proved him right in the worst way. A long gaze coupled with the Tylers’ worries told Carlisle that they had an even keener understanding of this notion. A deep pit formed in his gut when their lack of shock had him thinking this wasn’t the first time it landed her in the hospital either. How long were they going to let their daughter run herself ragged with her broken heart? Where would they draw the line? 

That was where his unabashed support of Rose came in. He’d earned it, and they knew it. He held her hand for hours on end, holding vigil by her bed while she recuperated. His body could only be pushed so far, however. Fatigue caught up with him the next day when night fell. When she did finally wake up he’d fallen asleep with his head in her lap. 

Her hand fell to his face, waking him with a start. 

“Take it easy,” Peter urged. She scanned the room and relaxed when she spotted her mum in a chair asleep in the corner. “Your dad’s off on a call. Nice fellow. And your mum… she’s… she loves you.” A little smile trickled in. 

He was all to cognizant of heat rising to his face when the nurse came in and checked up on Rose to find his head in her lap, thumb stroking the back of her hand. The nurse shooed him out while she did her work. Unlike the previous two nurses Rose had, this one had little tolerance for guests getting in her way. But he wasn’t above standing at the door with his ear to the cold metal. 

“Your boyfriend there really cares for you. He hasn’t left your side for more than a few minutes for close to 24 hours,” the nurse told her. 

“He’s my partner.” Rose sounded like a sleepy frog. She shouldn’t be talking, Carlisle thought.

He heard a sound akin to a cluck. “You can call him what you like deary. As the story spreading round A&E goes, if he hadn’t found you and stopped the bleeding you wouldn’t be here, not to mention donating as much blood as he did.” 

Silence.

“I’ll get out of your hair. Only saying, if a man fretted over me like that one does you I wouldn’t -” There was a pause. “Never mind. All done for the moment. I’ll check up on you in a little bit, Miss.”

She bumped him with the door and cleared her throat. Carlisle jumped and ran his fingers through his hair. She nodded at him to go back in. But he shook his head. He needed a few minutes to collect himself. After pacing the halls for a few minutes he timidly shuffled back in and saw Jackie still slumped over in her chair. Rose was peering out the window at the rain from her bed. He reclaimed his spot at her side, tentatively touching her hand before enveloping it in his. She made his heart flutter just with a touch, even if she was half asleep.

“You had me so worried,” he confessed. She felt so much more alive now that he’d seen her awake. Her pulse tapping at his fingers was just a bit more vibrant, her breaths pleasantly uneven. “I know you don’t want a lecture. Just hear me out if you’re still awake.” She lightly squeezed his hand. “When we first met you looked heartbroken to see me. I still asked you out.”

“Six times.”

“Aye. Before I decided to wait. I was in awe of how driven you are. But it’s always like there’s this little spark missing, a little glint in your smile that ought to be there. This fellow that you lost, the one that I look like…”

Rose’s hand clapped her mouth. 

“Aye, your mum told me. I think he can accept as well as I can that some wounds don’t heal. But he’d still want to put a plaster on it like I do. I won’t pretend to know anything about him, but if he cared for you he’d want you to let somebody in. Let somebody care for you. Let yourself be taken care of. Let somebody hold your hand. You can still dive into danger if you like. But you’ve got to slow down a little.” 

He paused and gulped down a lungful of strength. 

“I’m not him, and I never will be. But I’ll be here for you, if you stop to breathe. I love you Rose Tyler. Go back a few years and I wouldn’t be able to accept that you might not love me back. But I can. I promise I can. All my heart yearns for is seeing you happy. It’s open to you, always. You can lean on me.” He glanced back at Rose’s snoring mother and squeezed her hand. “On us.”

Rose’s breaths started skipping, she sniffed, winced, and squeezed his hand tight. 

“Oh no please don’t cry, Rose.” His heart sank at the sight of tears on her pink cheeks. 

She hushed him. A tear warmed the back of his hand as she brought it to her lips for a kiss. Peter dared to lean in closer. She closed her eyes and hiccuped against his lips. That little fire burning inside of her ignited when their lips touched, and a light of hope warmed his chest. Hope for what, he wasn’t certain of. But she’d let him in. It was a start. A new start. 


End file.
